Thriller films aim to stimulate the audience's emotions through suspense, tension, and excitement. Key components include an engaging storyline, keeping the audience guessing what the protagonist wants and fears, and opening with an attention-grabbing action scene. Conventions viewers expect are excitement through lighting and music, suspense, and anticipation. Stereotypes include vulnerable female victims confronted by male antagonists in isolated settings. Successful thrillers feature complex characters, confrontations, twists, an emotional impact, and some horror elements.

1. What is the definition of your genre?
• Thriller is a genre of literature, film, and television programming that
uses suspense, tension, and excitement as its main elements. Thrillers
heavily stimulate the viewer's moods, giving them a high level of
anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise,
anxiety and terror.

2. Find three examples of your genre.
Inception, The Bourne ultimatum and Taken

3. Identify the Key Components of your genre,
referring to the examples.
• You need to have a good storyline/plot
• Write from the perspective of the person with the most to lose
• Open the film with a action scene to grab the audiences attention
• Make it clear what your protagonist wants and what he fears early on
• You must have a powerful narrative

4. What would you audience expect to see (ie what
are the conventions) in this genre?
• Excitement - low key lighting
• Suspense - tense music
• Anticipation - digenetic sounds of breathing
• Anxiety - shadows
climax
Tension usually arises when the main character's is placed in threatening
situation, mystery, or and dangerous mission from which escape seems
impossible Life itself is threatened, usually because the principal character is
unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly
situation
Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other
or with outside forces

5. What are the stereotypical representations in
your genre?
• Stereotype of a woman victim Young and vulnerable Opposite
characteristics of the antagonist.
• Stereotype of male antagonist Male stereotype of being the villain of
thriller films Opposite characteristics of the protagonist.
• Vulnerable in a wide open house Stereotype of female victim In the
house alone Antagonist is a male.

6. What will you have to include in your
production to be successful?
• Complex Characterizations
• Confrontation
• Careening
• Coronary - The best thrillers stab the heart, throughout.
• Communication
• Most thriller films include a touch of horror but not all